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Fredonia’s student newspaper among the top winners at state conference

Submitted Photo “The Spectator” staff recently received 10 awards from the New York Press Association at their annual conference in Saratoga Springs, NY. Winners and staff include (front from left) Tess Thompson, Aurora Merwin, Haley Tenamore, Olivia Gullo, Anna Schrauth, Meredith Przybycien and Elizabeth Bumpus; (back from left) Kyleigh Warren, Jared Kowalski, Grace Mroczka, Gracie Morrison, Breanna Rosen, Will Schmidt, Kevin Redfield, Braden Lesch, and Victoria Hennessey.

Fredonia High School’s student newspaper, “The Spectator,” received 10 awards in seven categories from the New York Press Association (NYPA) at their annual conference in April in Saratoga Springs. The press association recognizes excellence in high school and college publications annually, as well as honoring the work of New York State journalists.

Members of the Michigan Press Association judged the 2017 contest entries in January, with 2,783 individual entries. Each year, a different state press association judges so that there is fairness in the judging overall.

“It is obviously an honor for the editors and staff to be recognized at the state level. Fredonia’s paper was again ranked as one of the best in the state. I believe 10 awards is a record high for our school,” co-adviser Lisa Reinhardt said.

“The Spectator” received first place awards for design and photography. Senior Kyleigh Warren won the photography award for a photo of students cheering at a football game. According to the judge’s comments, “This has all the elements of a winning photo: composition, emotion, focus and technical quality. Photographer Kyleigh Warren uses depth-of-field to focus the viewer on two cheering faces, while using the rule of thirds to place them perfectly. Emotion practically jumps out of the image.”

Senior Patrick Yunghans received an honorable mention for his photo entry as well.

The judge complimented the paper for its overall design and attractive pages, especially the graphics and photography.

In the general excellence category, “The Spectator” placed second. The judge commented, “Overall, it looks like you have fun and are engaged in your work and that translates to the readers.”

Kevin Siracuse received the third place award in the news writing category for his story about the high school musical.

Third place winner in the feature category for a story described as one that “impacts student” was Lilly Fuentes.

In the column category, Vincent Gullo received the second place award for “Gullo’s grumblings.” This was his second award from the NYPA, winning in the 2016 competition. Senior Anna Schrauth won the third place award for her column, “Anna’s antics,” and junior Keith Piper received an honorable mention for “Piper’s place.”

Sydney Swan won the second place award in the best sports story category for her story about a retiring coach, where she “digs deeper than the usual cliches…but also provides a broader view of the retiring football and track coach.”

Co-adviser Dadie Sedota said, “This level of achievement could not happen without the commitment and consistent work of the editors and staff, plus support from the community and school.”

Editors of the paper include: Casey Huber, Breanna Rosen, Anna Schrauth, Taylor Lemiszko, Gabe Persch, Katie Panasci, Lindsay Lotter, Aurora Merwin, Grayson Pratt, Braden Lesch, Mackenzie Quinn, Kyleigh Warren, Riley Drummond, Grace Mroczka, Laural Erick, Keith Piper, Meredith Przybycien, Olivia Gullo, Kevin Redfield, Haley Tenamore, Melinda Waag, Anna Schroeder and Finn Frerichs.

The paper is printed in the school print shop, supervised by Greg Betts and is available online at the Fredonia High School website.

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